Hello to all!

I figured this post was worth reporting on separate to my weekly update. I had a loose wandering feel in the steering and found after investigation that the steering coupling had rubber shock bushing that had worn completely out on one pin. This caused a small amount of free-play in the steering that was not noticeable until I looked at the steering shaft between the steering gear and the column. When twisting back and fourth and observing the steering shaft, I had found the shaft had up and down movement. I replace the steering coupling and rechecked and the problem was solved. An addition of a new steering stabilizer shock made a big difference as well. The steering now has a tight crisp feel. I would suggest if you have a wandering feel to you steering, and the suspension is checked and verified tight, check the steering coupling and the steering stabilizer shock. What you find may surprise you!
Regards,
Bryan

Did you have excessive sterring wheel play? I thought mine was a worn out box.

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Happy Benzing
Darryl, Hill
2005 SL55 AMG Kleemanized
1984 500 SEC
1967 W113 California Coupe
[SIGPIC]
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos

To me it was excessive play. I thought the same thing, the steering box was worn out. Rubber deteriorates faster down here with all the heat. I will post a photo of the old coupler tonight on my webpage show the details of where it failed.
Regards,
Bryan

I had posted back in Jan. about the "slop" in my steering wheel. Then someone mentioned that the spec. per MB is for up to 25mm of play. My problem wasn't so much at slower speeds but at highway speeds, I was all over the road. I have since cured most of this problem by replacing the rear springs and all 4 shocks. I still have the 25mm play in the wheel, but I am not all over the road. I would still like to tighten her up a bit. I will look into replacing the steering shock. Tomorrow I am bringing the car in to have the driver's side balljoint replaced. This should help too. Then I'll look into adjusting the steering gearbox. Also I'll look into these bushing/couplers. Thanks for the heads up.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

The Picture of the coupler is on the webpage. Fuzzy but there!

I thoght I'd mention that there are 2 types of steering couplings on 114 series cars. My 1972 250 has a non-rubber coupling with a metal
'U' joint like a mini driveshaft joint. This part is also 3 times the price of the rubber one and they don't interchange. (Ask me how I know!)
Happy Motoring, Mark DiSilvestro

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DrDKW